Field Mechanic: This Is My Job

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Nearly 60 percent of U.S. deaths in Iraq are caused by roadside bombs, which makes Chris Mieras's goal pretty simple: Keep people alive. As a field mechanic for Force Protection, a military contractor, he has spent two years in Iraq doing maintenance and troop training for IED- and mine-clearing vehicles called Buffaloes. His damage reports have led to improvements in the machinery--with impressive results. Since 2004, the 180 or so Buffaloes in Iraq have withstood a large number of attacks, with just three fatalities. While shifting budgets have left the future uncertain for the $750,000 vehicles, the 39-year-old Mieras will return to Iraq for a third year in April. "These trucks take blasts that amaze me," he says. "And the soldiers live to tell the stories."